The Gipper Heading Back to the Silver Screen

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The life of Ronald Reagan, a B actor long before he made it big in politics, is getting the feature-film treatment.

"Reagan," which will carry a $30 million price tag, will be based on two best-selling biographies by Paul Kengor, "The Crusader" and "God and Ronald Reagan."

Let's hope this will help to wash away the bad taste of "The Reagans," the CBS mini-series starring James Brolin whose lefty bias sparked so much outrage that the network buried it on Showtime, where it was seen by just 1.2 million people.

Regardless of your politics, the man was unquestionably a giant. From sports broadcaster to actor to union activist to pitchman to politician to leader of the free world, the man experienced, witnessed and shaped the 20th Century in a way that few others did and his story is certainly fascinating enough to warrant a film.

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Obviously it will be impossible to craft a portrait of the man which won't offend somebody in this polarized political climate, but casting an actor not so openly hostile to Reagan's legacy -- like Brolin -- would be a good place to start.

Whether producers Mark Joseph, Ralph Winter and Jonas McCord (who also wrote the scipt), can offer an honest accounting of the man's life remains to be seen, but they are at least saying the right things.

"Only in Hollywood could you make an insulting, condescending movie about a much-loved historical figure, hire an actor who loathes the man, watch it flop and then somehow conclude that Americans don't want to see a movie about him," Joseph told The Hollywood Reporter. "I watched Americans line up and wait for 10 hours for the simple privilege of passing by his closed casket. They love this man."